Vic Braden Tennis College in St. George Utah is Good

Before I finish off Utah, I should give a shout out to the Vic Braden Tennis College in Saint George, Utah. Although Vic himself appears to be an older guy who made a name for himself long ago videotaping tennis pros, the Tennis College is extremely well run by co-owners Dave, Tyler and Andy. For those people used to getting pounded by balls until their blistered fingers bleed, it is refreshing to be able to think about your game and what you are doing wrong. Using "Dartfish" technology, you get videotaped doing various tennis moves and then are compared to the pros. I never knew my grip was so lousy! But its better now. The kids liked it too, although, in our group, there was a critical mass of four kids twelve and under. This kept them in their own group and away from us! Getting to St. George from New York isn't hard, and if you can overcome the food deficiencies, the place is great! (Buy beer and liquor in Nevada before hitting Utah!)

Nielsen Frozen Custard: Finally Something to Eat in Saint George, UT

I'm actually back in New York as I write this, but I couldn't leave Utah without mentioning the one truly excellent place we ate: Nielsen Frozen Custard. Nielsen's sells true frozen custard, the thickest "soft" ice cream you will ever eat. Available in both vanilla and chocolate (daring in this part of the country), Nielsen is justifiably famous for its "concrete:" a mix in of their custard and things such as Oreos. They also sell pints and quarts of their custard to go. Like everything else in this part of the country, Nielsen is a chain, albeit a small one. We were told by the manager that the one in St. George is their second store. They also have locations in Salt Lake City, Henderson, NV and other places. No web site though.

Saint George, Utah: Can't Eat Out Here

I'm actually in Vegas as I write this. Vegas, baby! Actually, its sort of gross. But back to more important subjects, in this case decent Mexican food in Saint George, Utah. As previously noted, St. George has no shortage of chains, franchises and gas station convenience emporiums. Eating out was a problem however. The one decent restaurant that we ate at was called Cafe Rio. They are a local chain of Mexican restaurants. You wait in line, order your typical Mexican dish, pay, and sit down. The restaurant itself is attractive, and the food was clearly the best we had. They have multiple locations throughout Utah, including ski areas (our exercise-o-phillic friends were very excited to find out they were opening in Ogden Utah). All other Mexican restaurants in the area should be avoided like disease.




One discovery we made in Utah was cheap Mexican spices. Available at 3 Amigos, and made in Los Angeles, Tampico brand spices included both regular spices such as basil and thyme as well as combinations such as taco mix (pictured and excellent) and tamale seasoning. I have seen inexpenive bagged spices in Indian markets, but not Mexican ones. If anyone has seen them in New York, drop me a line.

The 3 Amigos: Mexican Market in Saint George, Utah

Greetings from Utah, where I have survived my first day of tennis camp. All that exercise can make you hungry, and so far I have not been impressed with my meals out here in Saint George. The easiest way to sum up the culinary offerings here is this: if its a Western Franchise, its here. Since we are staying in a condo, I have taken to cooking more and more. Saint George has at least 3 huge supermarkets, of which I have now been to two. Each contains the usual supermarket stuff, good produce, etc. Much more interesting than these typical behemoths is the 3 Amigos Market, located at 325 North Bluff Street (435-652-0180).

The 3 Amigos Market is a Mexican Market catering to the local Mexican community. It has a large variety of fruits and vegetables, and avocados cost half what they did at Albertsons. They also have such specialty items as tomatillo (good enough to eat raw) and several varieties of coconut. There is a dairy case where you can buy classics such as queso blanco, and a full service butcher. We bought chorizo and green chorizo. Although we ate the green chorizo, and liked it, we're still not exactly sure why its green. There are a large variety of pork products and pork parts for sale. This includes pickled ears. Taco meat is available pre-seasoned and ready to cook. Spices are very inexpensive.

We also bought some of the ices and ice milks available. My personal favorite was the rice pudding, although the coconut with pineapple was also good. There is a selection of traditional Mexican sweets available as well as baked goods.

In a town like Saint George, 3 Amigos is a welcome relief from that franchise feeling that permeates the restaurant scene. Although I still will buy some items from a traditional supermarket, adding the chorizo and using the spices for other dishes made our bar-b-cue dinner at home much better.

You Can Eat between Los Vegas and Utah

Greetings from St. George, Utah. We arrived yesterday in Los Vegas on Jet Blue (no delays at all), rented a car, and immediately headed out North on I15 to Utah. Although it initially felt good to get out of the airplane, get out of the luggage check and get out of the car rental place, it soon became apparent that four hours of eating blue Terra Chips left us all a bit hungry and cranky. We were passing by the Strip when this realization occurred but I made foolishly thought that we would soon hit some exurbia and we could all take a pit stop. Before we knew it we were four Manhattanites driving through the dessert. Four very hungry Manhattanites. And so, when I saw the large sign that said "Fireworks" up in the distance I knew it was telling me to stop.

The Moapa Paiute Travel plaza is located on I75, 60 miles from Los Vegas. Although they clearly advertise their casino, liquor and their vast collection of fireworks, they have a reasonably well stocked truck stop, some Native American souvenirs and what turned out to be a pretty decent restaurant. We had the beef tacos and the carnitas tacos, both of which were passable. They give you the meat and the tortilla, and you get to top it with vegetables, salsa etc. from their salad bar. The boys each ate hamburgers, which were passable, and we had an appetizer plate, which had surprisingly good fried chicken breasts.


There is a little jerky stand outside the main building. Jerky was made by "Tony's" and also Montana brand. You can try before you buy ($7 for a four ounce bag). The Tony's jerky was particularly flavorful. We preferred the Teriyaki over the original, and they have a spicy-sweet flavor that is useful for "guts" contests.






Map of
Moapa Paiute Travel Plaza
Ih 15 Exit 75
Moapa NV